


Truth Hidden in Lies

by Chelsea Frew (chelseafrew)



Category: Kings
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2009-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 00:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelseafrew/pseuds/Chelsea%20Frew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joseph gets a late night visit from his prince.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth Hidden in Lies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maryling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryling/gifts).



> I saw your prompt on the post where Dear Yuletide Writer letters were going up and could not resist taking the prompt to write as a Yuletide Treat for you. I hope you enjoy this extra little gift.

The crash just outside his apartment woke Joseph with a start. The crash was swiftly followed by a sloppy knock at the front door. Joseph sighed, pulled on a t-shirt, and went to let Jack in. It was always Jack, only Jack, who came to his door in the dead of night, needing to come in.

When he opened the door, he found Jack leaning against the wall just to Joseph's right, a half-drunk bottle of looked-like-scotch at his lips.

"Jack, do you know what time it is?" Joseph asked wearily.

Jack shrugged and pulled another large sip from his bottle. "Late. It is late."

Joseph sighed again. "Come in before the neighbors start taking photos." He seized the top of Jack's coat and dragged him inside.

Once the door was closed behind them, Jack used his free hand to grab Joseph at the back of his neck so he could pull him in for a forceful, possessive kiss.

Joseph couldn't help it. He allowed the kiss to go on far longer than he should have, but eventually he pushed Jack away.

A pout instantly clouded Jack's handsome features. "I was just getting started, Joseph. What's wrong?"

Joseph turned his back to Jack and walked over to the living area and switched on a floor light. "It's three-thirty in the morning, Jack."

"Never stopped us before," Jack noted, leering. "Just last week…." As Jack stumbled over to the sofa to sit heavily on the left side--shrugging his coat off as he went--it was clear he had lost his train of thought.

Joseph sank into a nearby easy chair, every inch of him weary. "What time did you start drinking?"

Jack drained his bottle and placed it on Joseph's coffee table, where it immediately fell over. Jack didn't bother to right it. "I started the minute my father's state dinner began." He wrinkled his forehead. "Maybe a little before. Can't quite remember."

"I'm not surprised."

Joseph stood, then, and went into the kitchen. He started brewing a pot of coffee before filling two glasses with water. When he returned to the living room, he placed one glass in front of Jack, keeping the other for himself. "So. State dinner?"

Jack sighed, throwing his head back to rest on the pillows behind him. Gaze fixed somewhere on the ceiling, he answered, "The King hosted some of the dignitaries from Gath, trying once again for peace."

"Ah." Joseph paused to take a good, hard look at Jack. "It was more than just that, though, wasn't it?"

Jack sighed again, this time with great annoyance. "I didn't come here for therapy, Joseph. I came to fuck. If you don't want to, I'll go find someone who will."

Joseph slammed his glass down on the coffee table, water sloshing over the edge. He opened his mouth to shout at Jack, but just as quickly closed it again. He forced himself to pull in several deep breaths and count silently to ten. When he was done, he very calmly announced, "I'm going to go get the coffee."

When he first got to the kitchen, he had to wait a few minutes for the coffee to finish brewing. He used the time to calm himself down, telling himself that losing his temper with Jack wasn't going to help anything. He'd been playing this game long enough to know that for a fact. Once the coffee was finally done, he poured two mugs full of the strong brew he'd prepared--one mug black with a little sugar for himself and one black with nothing for Jack. He hauled in another few deep breaths before carrying the mugs back into the living room. Thankfully, Jack had not taken off in his absence.

As he handed Jack's to him, he suggested, "Drink it. Whatever you're going to do, you need to be at least a little sober." He reseated himself in the easy chair and sipped at his own coffee, wincing as the bitter liquid burned its way down his throat.

The look on Jack's face clearly telegraphed to Joseph that Jack was weighing his options carefully--staying drunk or clearing his mind. "Being sober isn't all it's cracked up to be," he muttered. Nevertheless, in the end he gulped down the coffee. The silence which permeated the room as he did so was pervasive.

When Joseph had finished off his coffee, he said, "If you want to leave, go. You know I won't stop you. But if you want to talk, I'm here."

Jack emptied his own mug before leaning over, elbows on his knees, to put his face in his hands.

Joseph moved to sit at Jack's side, putting a comforting hand on Jack's knee. "What happened, Jack?"

After pulling a deep breath, Jack answered, "My father didn't just invite Gath dignitaries. He invited about twenty eligible debutantes from both Gath and Gilboa. All virginal, all fertile, all politically desirable." The bitter vitriol in his voice would have been obvious to a deaf man.

"I'm sorry."

Jack shook his head. "I wasn't even surprised. It's not like this was the first time he's done this."

"Did you say anything to him?"

Shooting him an incredulous look, Jack said, "You have got to be kidding me. Hi. I'm Jack Benjamin, son of the King of Gilboa." He thrust his hand in Joseph's direction, the incredulous look melting into one of condescension.

Lifting his hand from Jack's knee, Joseph looked him straight in the eye. "You are such a coward."

Narrowing his eyes to slits, Jack hissed, "Excuse me?"

"You. Are. A. Coward," Joseph repeated.

Jack stood, an imposing figure now looming over Joseph. "How dare you speak to me that way."

Joseph raised his eyebrows, but did not raise himself off the sofa. "What? Because you're the crown prince? You've been in and out of my bed for almost a year. I'll speak to you any way I want."

Jack's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Joseph stood to face his lover eye to eye. "You have to tell him."

"You think it's just that easy, don't you?" Jack scoffed. "'Dad, I don't want to be with a woman. I'd rather be with a man.' That's what you think I should do."

"Jack, he loves you," Joseph argued.

Jack shook his head. "Not the way you think he does. He loves me as long as I do the things he wants and act the way I'm supposed to. The minute I cross the line, that all ends."

"You don't really believe that."

"No, I don't believe it," Jack told him. "I know it."

"But you're not happy, Jack. Are you? Living a lie?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't have a choice. Not if I want the crown one day."

Joseph paused for a moment of thought, then tried another tack. "What about your mother?"

Jack laughed darkly. "She would disown me in less time than it takes a heart to beat."

Joseph sighed. "So that's it? You just live your life behind closed doors? Never show anyone who you really are?"

"It's worked so far."

Rubbing a hand across his forehead, Joseph was at a loss for what to say next.

Jack reached down to retrieve his coat from where he'd slung it over the arm of the sofa, and he pulled it on slowly.

"You're leaving." Joseph was not actually terribly surprised.

"I told you why I came here. It wasn't for coffee and a lecture on being myself."

"Fine," Joseph returned. "Go."

A confused look passed over Jack's face--a shadow. He quickly banished it with resolve and strode toward the front door.

As Jack pulled the door open, Joseph softly said, "Jack. Take care."

Jack paused for a brief moment, then left, closing the door firmly behind him.

Letting out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, Joseph turned off the living room light and headed back to bed.

Crawling under the covers once more, Joseph couldn't help but wish Jack had stayed. But he comforted himself with the thought that one day in the not too distant future, Jack would come back. He always did.

End (21 December 2009)


End file.
